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State of Arcadia
The state of Arcadia was once a peaceful kingdom until civil unrest, hostile military operations and other unfortunate events began happening with no apparent warning or cause, such as the state's king aligning himself with a known enemy of the New Age who planned to create a device which was capable of destroying a steam-knight in moments. The company's (unknown and henceforth denied) informants in Arcadia caught wind of this conspiracy and brought word of it to Overlod Gun. The council convened shortly after and quickly came to the unanimous conclusion that they needed to bring Arcadia inside the council as an equal in order to place the kingdom in a position where continued hostility would be unprofitable. To that end, the council assigned Talarin Flamerend as their ambassador, gave him a protection detail of several steam-knights as he entered the state to negotiate. He offered King Gamelan a chair on the council for himself or any individual named in his place and the right to an equal vote over every New Age operation and deal that would happen in the future, including those concerning his territory. The only stipulation was that Arcadia's laws would need to be reviewed to ensure they met the guidelines of the New Age accord. Negotiations collapsed for reasons yet unclear, although Talarin simply claims that Gamelan continuously refused every offer without citing a reason at all and popular belief among the Network is that he polymorphed the king out of annoyance, triggering a hue and cry. A group of terrorists acting on motivations unknown emerged at this time and began making persistent attempts on Gamelan's life and turned the capital city into a warzone, New Age forces mobilized quickly and responded to the threat, but it was already too late; by the time they were on site and setting up camp, the situation had deterioriated into an unstable mess that was only getting worse. In response to the presence of steam-knights guarding King Gamelan and acting as peacekeepers in his capital city, the terrorist group then had a dragon attack the city. This proves to be an ongoing headscratcher for the council, who are still unable to figure out by any means mundane or arcane where they got it in the first. A short time later the insurgency finally saw a success, and King Gamelan was killed brutally by an assassin in front of New Age forces that were unable to protect him, which shot the final chain link and brought the chandelier of Arcadia's affairs crashing down. The civil war escalated, the state broke up into smaller pieces which were promptly seized by splinter factions and a group of mercenaries took over the capital. The New Age council voted to commit to the Arcadia situation and help the citizens of the kingdom by ridding them of the mercenary filth who had seized their capital and declared themselves rulers. A diplomatic mission to reunite the state was arranged, stocked with the most pompous, verbose, and persuasive politicians available to the New Age. This operation was successful; the leader of the mercenary group in the capital was paid off and departed, followed by a bomb threat which turned out to be a hoax after much panicking and running around. Over the course of the next few weeks, splinter groups and factions in the countryside and its townships were contacted, appraised of the situation and convinced to desist and reintegrate with Arcadia as a political and legal entity. This was achieved by policing meetings between rival factions as they settled their differences to prevent talks turning violent and offering various towns and groups commodities like grain or livestock, the opportunity to redraw county lines in a way that suits them better or the promise of titles for their leadership and thus better representation in government. Arcadia has now been officially converted from kingdom to state and is currently part of the New Age council. It is ruled by a regent selected by the council, under whom a cabinet chaired by ethnic Arcadians manage the run of the country from day to day. An agreement has been made that this regent will remain for three years, at which point Arcadia will elect its own leader through a process that has yet to be determined. The state is presently making great progress at obtaining natural resources in its territory with the assistance of Network dowsers and technicians, who determine the location of valuable minerals and supply phlogiston-powered drilling equipment to the Arcadian workers so they can attain it efficiently, respectively. Three large phlogiston distilleries have already been built around Arcadia and a further five remain under construction. The dead from the civil war have since been gathered, except in cases where families wish to bury their loved ones elsewhere, and entombed together in a large, ornate mausoleum outside the capital, built at the council's suggestion from grey and red marble transmuted from spilt blood and stone from a local quarry. Names of the dead or missing are constantly added to a large book held in a deep chamber. This building is perhaps the best example of the state's swift reunification; former enemies go there to mourn their dead together, and soldiers and victims from every faction are all interred in the same walls. A sarcophagus in one section lies open, waiting for the day when King Gamelan's body is tracked down so that the king can be put to rest in the same place as the rest of the victims, but the corpse has been lost and no trace of where it went has been discovered, despite meticulous investigation. The Arcadia Conglomerate